Head teachers protest in July 2010

HEAD TEACHERS HIT OUT OVER
THIRD PRIMARY SCHOOL PLANS

TWO PRIMARY head teachers have hit out at plans to open a third school in Bourne by 2013. Bourne Abbey Primary School's Cherry Edwards and Tim Bright at Bourne Westfield say another primary could "siphon off money" from their schools and hit education standards.

Last week, Lincolnshire County Council announced that a new primary in Elsea Park could be open by 2013. The Mercury reported that the council was in talks with developer of Elsea Park, the Kier Group, to open a school on the housing estate. Building a school was one of the conditions made when the company was given planning permission.

Education officers in a report two years ago said that the new school should not built until the 87 surplus places at Bourne Westfield and Bourne Abbey were filled. Now the council says there are 67 surplus places at the two schools but without any action by 2013 there will be a shortage of 17 spaces.

The two heads say there should be full consultation with parents and staff at the schools. In a joint statement they said:

"When such discussions are held then the county council will be able to make a more accurate and sensible prediction regarding if and when the new school will be needed. At a time of recession it must be very difficult to predict how many new houses will be sold in the next two years. The county council will have to have a very strong case backed up with watertight evidence that a new school will not merely siphon off pupils from the existing two primary schools thus leading to the reduction of funding available to ensure the highest quality educational provision for the pupils in these two outstanding schools."

Each year the Bourne schools can take up to 180 reception year pupils. However the county council predicts in "future years" there will be a demand for 200 places a year. As these extra children filter through the school there will be a need for more classes.

In this school year there are 1,185 pupils on the school rolls. By 2013/14 the county says the figure will be 1,277, causing the shortage of spaces.

The council is projecting that the demand for places and projected pupil numbers will mean that the town will need about six classes. It states that the new school will have one class per year group and that the Elsea Park development provides an opportunity to provide a new building to be paid for by the developer.

Executive councillor for children's services Patricia Bradwell (Con) said: "The residents of Elsea Park were promised a new school and many purchased houses with this in mind - all of whom are looking forward to a new school for their children. It is quite clear that the developer wishes to see that the new school is built and it makes sense to plan for a start on site to enable the new school to open in September 2013. The projections for the area show us that a school will be needed as the housing market recovers and more pupils are brought in to the area. We have had discussions over the proposals with both schools over the last year and have only recently met with Bourne Westfield. We will keep both schools up to date with our proposals and will continue to consult with them when full plans are brought forward."

The joint statement by Tim Bright and Cherry Edwards in full:

"When the county council last proposed building the third school in Bourne it was at a time of falling pupil rolls in Bourne and right across Lincolnshire. Both primary schools in Bourne had surplus places with further falling rolls projected. At this time the county council, after entering into discussions with the governing bodies and head teachers of the existing primary schools, quite rightly made the sensible decision that it was not the right time to build the third school. The result could have meant redundancies for existing staff at perhaps both schools when trying to split the existing number of pupils between three schools rather than two.

"There was clearly not a case proven for a third school at this time. There is no doubt that the numbers of pupils on roll have increased in the time since this decision was made. However, there are certainly still surplus places at both schools. Any decisions made by the county council needs to be made in full consultation with the existing primary schools and their parents. This is clearly not happening as yet again the first Bourne Abbey and Bourne Westfield has known about the current proposal was to see it as front page headlines in the local newspaper.

"When such discussions are held then the county council will be able to make a more accurate and sensible prediction regarding if and when the new school will be needed. At a time of recession it must be very difficult to predict how many new houses will be sold in the next two years. The county council will have to have a very strong case backed up with watertight evidence that a new school will not merely siphon off pupils from the existing two primary schools, thus leading to the reduction of funding available to ensure the highest quality educational provision for the pupils in these two 'Outstanding' schools."

Reproduced from the Stamford Mercury, Friday 16th July 2010.